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News

Operations
Other Conflicts
Defense Policy / Programs
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 17 Dec 2004 [PDF]
• ONE MARINE KILLED IN ACTION
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty

• ING, IP and Soldiers Find Weapons Cache in Junkyard MNF-I/MNC-I 17 Dec 2004 -- The mission started with a local Iraqi who was concerned for the safety of his family and his neighbors and finished with the combined effort of the Iraqi Police, Iraqi National Guardsmen of the 306th Battalion and Multi-National Forces, discovering a weapons cache in an unlikely place, a junkyard.
• Fallujah's Critical Infrastructure Assessed MNF-I/MNC-I 17 Dec 2004 -- Teams of specialists from the 4th Civil Affairs Group of the I Marine Expeditionary Force wrapped up their assessment of specific segments of the city's critical infrastructure here recently.
• Vipers on the prowl AFPN 17 Dec 2004 -- Viper Flight -- the group is as tough as the name suggests. Whether it is scoping out threats or chasing down the enemy, this security forces' flight is the first line of defense protecting the base's outer perimeter.

• RFE/RL Afghanistan Report, Vol 3, Number 44 17 Dec 2004 -- KARZAI DECLARES HOLY WAR AGAINST DRUGS / HRW URGES U.S. TO 'GET SERIOUS' ABOUT DETAINEE ABUSE / AFGHAN PRESIDENT STATES HIS PRIORITIES... / ...AND SEEKS TO REIN IN SENIOR OFFICIALS / AFGHAN PLANNING MINISTER CLOSES NEARLY 2,000 NGOS... / ...WHILE AFGHAN GOVERNMENT DISTANCES ITSELF FROM HIS COMMENT... / ...PROMPTING THE MINISTER TO RESIGN / U.S. VICE PRESIDENT SAYS AFGHANISTAN STILL HAS ENEMIES / U.S. TO BACK KABUL'S RECONCILIATION PROGRAM WITH FORMER TALIBAN MEMBERS... / ...WHO ARE SAID TO BE IN TURMOIL... / ...WHILE THE MILITIA VOWS TO FIGHT ON / TEN KILLED IN NEO-TALIBAN ATTACK IN SOUTHEASTERN AFGHANISTAN / SECURITY FORCES EXPOSE NEO-TALIBAN NETWORK IN SOUTHERN AFGHANISTAN... / ...AND ARREST BROTHER OF FORMER SENIOR TALIBAN OFFICIAL / PAKISTAN ARRESTS ALLEGED LEADER OF ARMY OF THE MUSLIMS... / ...WHICH AFGHANISTAN WELCOMES / DUTCH POLICE ARREST MEMBER OF AFGHAN COMMUNIST REGIME / RUSSIA BELIEVES IT CAN DO MORE IN AFGHANISTAN / U.S. MILITARY BASE IN HERAT TO BE NEAR IRAN... / ...BUT IRANIAN ENVOY QUESTIONS PROPRIETORSHIP OF BASE / NATO AGREES TO EXPAND ISAF / GERMAN AIRLINE BEGINS DIRECT FLIGHTS TO KABUL / THIS WEEK IN AFGHANISTAN'S HISTORY

Other Conflicts

• Annan urges Europeans to play lead role in talks on new collective security structure UN News Centre 17 Dec 2004 -- Continuing a campaign to promote support for a new global security structure, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged European countries meeting in Brussels to use their experience in building an economic and political union to play a leading role in developing a collective model for meeting future threats to peace.

• IVORY COAST VOA 17 Dec 2004 -- Lawmakers in divided Ivory Coast have approved a key reform measure, easing eligibility requirements for the presidency as part of efforts to move the stalled peace process forward. But parliament members from the party of President Laurent Gbagbo are now calling for a referendum on the change.
• COTE D IVOIRE: UN holds back on sanctions, giving Mbeki extra time IRIN 17 Dec 2004 -- A deadline for United Nations sanctions against Cote d'Ivoire came and went this week with no punitive action bar a sharp warning from the Security Council, which is giving South African President Thabo Mbeki extra time to mediate peace.
• DRC: North Kivu army chief replaced as fighting intensifies IRIN 17 Dec 2004 -- The Armed Forces High Command of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has transferred the military commander of the 8th Military Region - North Kivu Province - in a move aimed at ending clashes between factions of the army in the province.
• NIGERIA-SUDAN: AU says Darfur awash with weapons and situation a time-bomb IRIN 17 Dec 2004 -- Vast quantities of weapons have poured into Darfur in recent weeks and fighting could explode at any moment, the chief ceasefire monitor for the African Union said on Friday, dealing another blow to already-fragile peace talks.
• Treasury Designates Six Persons as Obstructors of Dayton Accords Washington File 17 Dec 2004 -- The U.S. Treasury Department announced December 16 that it has designated three entities and six individuals as obstructors of the Dayton peace accords relating to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• ISRAEL/PALESTINIANS VOA 17 Dec 2004 -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has sounded a note of optimism about peace prospects in the coming year provided Palestinians stop violence against Israel. Meanwhile, An Israeli incursion in the Gaza Strip has killed six Palestinians.
• DARFUR / TALKS VOA 17 Dec 2004 -- A report presented at Sudan's Darfur peace talks in Nigeria says the region could soon explode. African Union, which sponsors the talks, warns the Sudanese government appears to be gearing up for a major offensive.
• Georgia: Saakashvili Blows Hot And Cold On Separatist Issue RFE/RL 17 Dec 2004 -- The president of Georgia has sent mixed signals this week to the breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Following a government reshuffle aimed at enhancing Georgian defense and security capabilities, Mikheil Saakashvili on 15 December suggested he might resort to force to bring the rebellious provinces back into the fold. The next day, however, he reiterated a previous commitment to restore Georgia's territorial integrity through peaceful means.
• UGANDA: EU official urges flexibility in effort to end conflict IRIN 16 Dec 2004 -- The European Union's commissioner for development and humanitarian aid, Louis Michel, said on Thursday that flexibility and mutual understanding between the Ugandan government and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) were essential in the effort to end the long-standing conflict in northern Uganda.
• THAILAND SOUTHERN VIOLENCE VOA 17 Dec 2004 -- Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra says some leaders of a separatist insurgency in southern Thailand have fled to neighboring Malaysia. The remark came after police arrested four alleged leaders of the insurgency and said they will stand trial for treason.
• ISRAEL PALESTINIANS VOA 17 Dec 2004 -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has sounded a note of optimism about peace prospects in the coming year provided Palestinians stop violence against Israel.
• RWANDA/CONFLICT VOA 17 Dec 2004 -- top aide to Rwanda's President Paul Kagame says his country has not intention of sparking another war with Congo, which has accused Rwandan forces of invading eastern Congo.

Defense Policy / Programs

• U.S. ARMY CHEMICAL UNIT RELOCATES TO FORT LEWIS, WASHINGTON Eighth US Army 17 Dec 2004 -- The Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment (HHD), 23rd Chemical Battalion and two chemical companies have completed their relocation from Korea to Fort Lewis, Washington, as the final phase of the chemical decontamination mission transfer to the ROK Army.
• Army Reserve Undergoing "Deep, Profound Change" AFPS 17 Dec 2004 -- Army Lt. Gen. James R. Helmly doesn't like the word "reservists." Members of the Army Reserve are "soldiers" plain and simple, he said.
• Advanced convoy exercise takes place at Camp Fuji USMC News 17 Dec 2004 -- Nearly 700 Marines with units from the III Marine Expeditionary Force are conducting convoy operations in a simulated, multi-threat environment as part of a new, convoy training exercise taking place at Camp Fuji, Japan, Dec. 1-17.
• Air National Guard F-16 accident report released AFPN 17 Dec 2004 -- Pilot error, a poorly designed pilot-vehicle interface, and the lack of a published safety procedure were found as causes for 27 ammunition rounds being accidentally expended during a training mission at the Warren Grove Range, N.J., Nov. 3 according to an accident report released Dec. 17.
• New hangars establish bomber deployment option AFPN 17 Dec 2004 -- The B-2 Spirit now has a new home away from home.
• Alexandria Returns to SUBASE Following Circumnavigation of Globe Navy NewsStand 17 Dec 2004 -- The Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Alexandria (SSN 757) returned to Naval Submarine Base (SUBASE) New London Dec. 10 following a deployment that circumnavigated the globe.

• India, Sri Lanka carry out naval exercise IRNA 17 Dec 2004 -- The first joint naval exercise between India and Sri Lanka began about 10 nautical miles off Colombo yesterday, it was reported here on Friday.

• INDONESIA/AUSTRALIA/TERROR VOA 17 Dec 2004 -- Australia's plan to establish a maritime surveillance zone that would cover much of Indonesia has provoked a furious response from Jakarta, which says the policy contravenes both national sovereignty and international law. The move is just the latest in what Indonesia sees as a series of aggressive policies from Canberra.

• White House Daily Briefing, December 17 Washington File 17 Dec 2004 -- China, Israel, EU, Turkey, Rumsfeld, intelligence
• State Department Noon Briefing, December 17 Washington File 17 Dec 2004 -- EU-Turkey accession negotiations, Powell/phone calls, Cyprus/Turkey, Cuba, China, Iraq, Middle East, Darfur/Sudan, Iceland, South Africa

News Reports

• Russia: Moscow Seeks Changes In Monitoring On Russian-Georgian Border RFE/RL 17 Dec 2004 -- A challenge by Russia has led to a crisis at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Russia said it might veto next year's budget unless other members agree to modify the OSCE's monitoring operation on the Russian-Georgian border.
• Yushchenko Said Poisoned By Agent-Orange Ingredient RFE/RL 17 Dec 2004 -- The Dutch scientist who has been analyzing the blood of Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko said today that tests confirm Yushchenko was poisoned by TCDD, the most harmful type of dioxin.